Exchange students preparing for summer adventures abroad

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By Clara Moffitt

This summer, five of our outstanding TPA Juniors will participate in the foreign exchange program sponsored by Tempe Sister Cities: Catherine Coriell, Christopher Moffitt, Noah Lewis, Jon Maza, and Clare Waddell. Tempe Sister Cities generously funds the program and sends Tempe students to: Skopje, Macedonia; Regensburg, Germany; Lower Hutt, New Zealand; Zhenjiang, China; Timbuktu, Mali; Beaulieu-sur-Mer, France; Carlow, Ireland; Cuenca, Ecuador; Cusco, Peru; and, new this year, Trollhättan, Sweden.

Sister Cities xchangeIn the Sister Cities program, the Tempe student goes to live with their host family for five weeks. Then they return to Tempe with their foreign “sibling,” who stays with the Tempe student’s family for a month. Then all 32 Tempe delegates and their 32 foreign siblings have a full month of trips and activities, from visiting Disneyland and the Grand Canyon to hosting a prom, an annual favorite for all the exchange students.

Catherine Coriell will be going to Skopje, Macedonia. This small country north of Greece is said to be very relaxed and laid-back. Catherine is excited to “lounge around in a beautiful city with the greatest people.” She is especially excited about meeting her host family and her “sister,” Jovana. Her “dad” owns a business and her “mom” is chief editor of a primary newspaper. She is very eager to be a part of the Macedonian culture. She says, “Highlights of my trip will probably be hiking Mt. Vodno, visiting Mother Theresa’s home, and eating all of the wonderful food!”

Christopher Moffitt. He will be seeing the foreign land of Zhenjiang, China, very close to Shanghai. Christopher is thrilled to stay at this beautiful port city, the name of which means, “guarding the Yangtze River.” Having studied Mandarin intensely in China last summer, Christopher hopes to speak the language more fluently by the end of this summer. He awaits his favorite treat: “The food! I can never have enough Chinese food! It’s delicious.” Chris expects to be academically challenged over the summer since his host brother starts his day at 4 a.m. and his host parents are both professors at the university. He says, “I will have quite an intellectual family!”

Junior Noah Lewis will be traveling to Regensburg, Germany on May 23. Noah is enthusiastic about hiking the towering Alps in Germany. He is also excited to travel to Rome with his musically talented host family. He says, “My host family, the Rusins, seem incredibly nice. The dad, Oliver, is in a quartet, and my brother, Max, is a very talented musician.”

Jon Maza will also be venturing to Regensburg, Germany. He looks forward to spending two full days in the magnificent Alps. Jon was very shocked to find out that his host family is very similar to his. He explains, “Both of our mothers are teachers and both of our fathers own their own construction companies.”

Clare Waddell will go to Country Carlow, Ireland. “I’m really looking forward to the cultural experience, such as different foods, the sites, and definitely the accents!” Clare states. Her host sister, Stephanie, as well as the rest of her family, enjoy the sport, Gaelic Football, which is very similar to rugby. Clare adds, “I’m also really excited to see the greenery; it’ll be nice to get away from the heat and desert landscape.”

We at Tempe Prep are very proud to have a record number of our Juniors selected to go abroad as Tempe Sister Cities delegates. We are confident that these five students will succeed in representing our school as well as our city. We look forward to their exciting stories and meeting their new international siblings when they come to visit our classes at TPA in August!